Paula Creamer and Jiyai Shin spent eight extra holes and at least two extra hours at the Kingsmill Championship Sunday evening trying to separate themselves by one stroke before darkness forced a temporary stoppage in play.
Monday morning, a single playoff hole and all of 20 minutes were all it took to decide the tournament’s eighth champion.
Shin and Creamer walked off Kingsmill’s River course on Sunday tied at 16-under, the same position they’d been in since finishing 18 regulation holes hours before because neither could birdie hole No. 18, the designated pin for all eight playoff holes.
On Monday, Shin and Creamer resumed their sudden-death affair at 9 a.m. on hole No. 16 in front of a surprisingly large group of spectators, and after Creamer three-putted for only the second time all week, par was all it took for Shin to claim her ninth career tournament title, and first in nearly two years.
“I can’t believe I’m standing right here,” Shin said after accepting the sparkling trophy and a $195,000 check on the 18th green. “It feels like a dream.”
Both players reached the par-4 16th in two shots- Creamer was roughly 30 feet off the pin while Shin faced a downhill double-break from about 15 feet away. Creamer came within a whisker from sinking her 30-foot birdie putt, but it skimmed off the right side of the hole leaving her with a tough par putt that she eventually missed.
“I thought I hit a great putt, it was just a little bit faster than what I thought,” Creamer said of her initial 30-foot attempt at birdie. “Then the next one, the downhill one, was tough, too, because it was one of those dying ones where you have to play about a cup-and-a-half break from five feet.”
The longest playoff in LPGA Tour history came at the 1972 Corpus Christi Civitan Open where Jo Ann Prentice defeated Sandra Palmer and Kathy Whitworth in 10 holes.
The longest playoff between two competitors occurred at the 2004 LPGA Takefuji Classic where Cristie Kerr defeated Seol-An Jeon in seven holes.
Like Shin, Creamer was also hoping to end a two-year winning drought, although she’s succeeded in being one of the tour’s most consistent players. So far in 2012, she’s made 18/18 cuts she’s participated, tallied five top 10 finishes and placed runner-up twice.
“I can’t take away the way I played, I played great this whole tournament,” Creamer added. “If somebody would have said you’re going to go to a nine-hole playoff and shoot these numbers (65-67-65-71), I would take that in a heartbeat anytime.”
Said Shin of ending the two-year drought: “We were both so hungry for the win. I know her feeling, too. It was great match play yesterday, and today was more good competition. This is my first time doing an interview on Monday,” Shin added, laughing. “It was really tough to win. Last night took so long that I was really tired, and when I came this morning I was still tired.”
Tiredness wasn’t the only adversity that stood in Shin’s way of the title this week. In June, the South Korean had a repair operation done on her hand which she said still affects her swinging motion from time-to-time. She didn’t play a round of golf in two months until late August.
Shin was also breaking in a new French-speaking caddie this week, and despite speaking different languages, things couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
On Thursday, Shin carded her career-best round and set a tournament-record after firing a 9-under par 62. “We’re trying to teach each other- he teaches me a little French, I teach him a little Korean,” Shin said. “But I appreciate him, he made me very comfortable, so I think we were a great team and I’m really happy to work with him.”
Both players will have little time to reflect on their long weekend. The British Open begins Thursday in the United Kingdom, and after having to reschedule flight plans late last night, both said they’ll be on their way Monday.
“It looks like another long day today,” joked Shin, who departs at 4 p.m. for Manchester.
Added Creamer, who will leave from Washington D.C. later Monday evening, “I’ll probably think about this for a little bit but not too long. That’s the thing about golf and sports is you’ve got to have that great short-term memory.
“I couldn’t ask for more positives and confidence coming out of this week,” Creamer added. “What more could you ask for going into a major?”
